


Legacy Prompts [Pride Month]

by hearden



Series: Legacy of Power [13]
Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017), Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2018-11-07 22:24:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11068341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearden/pseuds/hearden
Summary: A collection of Pride Month inspired prompts, set exclusively in the Legacy verse.





	1. can't bear, can't face the truth // trini

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emilyrambles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyrambles/gifts).



> challenge source: https://queermiraculous.tumblr.com/post/161280728687/
> 
> all prompts, unless specified in the notes, are considered canon
> 
> chapter titles follow this format:  
> [title] // [pov character]  
> [title] // [pov1+pov2+etc] indicates multiple viewpoints  
> [title] // [pov1/name] indicates a ship-focused prompt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight, Trini should’ve checked the weather app this morning instead of thinking about how Kim had kissed her last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day one: storm. 
> 
> ties into ch8, which I know, I still haven't written yet.

After everyone had left the campfire, Trini found herself back at the quarry, at her usual spot. The day had been absolute crap, lacking severely in everything she normally enjoyed about actually going to school, most of which involved Kim. Having breakfast with Kim. Seeing Kim in biology. Having lunch with Kim - and the others, of course.

Grumbling to herself and frustrated, Trini yanks her headphones off, the drastic change between loud rock music and the dead silence of the night leaving her ears ringing.

In the distance, the sky rumbles.

Right. The storm Tommy had warned them about before everyone drove home.

“Fuck…” Trini gathers up her stuff, slamming her history textbook shut and shoving it inside her backpack. She’s been trying to study to no avail all day long, especially since she hadn’t gained any progress last night, but the day itself is determined to make her fail her test. Well, the day and the fact that she keeps thinking about Kim and how Kim kept avoiding her eyes at the campfire.

And the fact that she couldn’t manage a smile the entire time but Kim had been having the time of her _life_ while joking around with Kimberly.

The sheer audacity, right?

It tastes like guilt in her mouth, leaving behind a bitter aftertaste.

 

* * *

  

Trini’s too tired to run home, so she walks, which ends up being a gigantic mistake. She swears that the storm speeds itself up just to hover over her (which isn’t even close to true, but with her luck, probably), just as she’s leaving the vicinity of the quarry.

Checking the weather hadn’t been on her mind this morning, so she’s without an umbrella as the rain starts pouring down. Trini quickly strips off her jacket and wraps it around her bag, holding it close to her chest and hunching over to protect her books from (hopefully) most of the potential water damage. It’s a shit idea, especially because now her back is exposed to the freezing rain, but if she can prevent herself - or her parents - from having to shell out ninety unnecessary dollars on replacing her history textbook for the school, then it’s _completely_ worth getting a cold over.

The sky flashes with lightning, followed by a thunderous boom, causing Trini to jump.

She has to get out of this soon before she’s stuck with a cold. Or, worse, pneumonia.

Can she even get pneumonia from a storm?

Trini decides she needs to pay more attention in biology but shoves that thought aside as the sky lights up again and another crack of thunder has her trembling.

Shelter. She needs to find shelter.

Well, that’s tough because almost everything in Angel Grove is closed after ten.

Trini ducks under the patio cover of a nearby store and fishes her phone out of her pocket, uselessly trying to wipe it dry with her shirt. It takes a couple of tries to unlock her phone, with the screen not responding to her touch because of how disgustingly soaked she is, but finally, it responds and she pulls up her contacts.

She pauses for a moment, running through the closest people she knows in her head. Kim’s house is on the other side of the quarry and way too far away to reach, especially because she’d have to cut through the mountains and that’s _definitely_ dangerous.

And because she’s not going to fucking play with the idea of showing up at Kim’s house after last night.

Jason, Billy, and Zack are all even further from her than her house is…

She keeps scrolling down her contacts and stops on Tommy’s name.

Okay, yeah.

What hotel had Tommy said they were staying at again?

 

* * *

 

After navigating Google Maps with increasing levels of difficulty because the signal kept cutting out and then her phone had fucking died, Trini grumpily stomps into the Comfort Inn on Greenfield Avenue, sheepishly muttering a “sorry” when the receptionist gives her a look for shaking her jacket, clothes, and bag off in the foyer.

She quickly - a little hesitantly - asks for which room Tommy and Kimberly are in and shuffles off to the elevators, her shoes squeaking annoyingly on the tiled floor.

When she gets to room 309, Trini takes a deep breath, wondering briefly if this was really worth it or if she should’ve chanced dragging herself home to her mom nagging at her, and knocks firmly on the door.

Inside, she hears a thump accompanied by a “Shit!” that sounds like Kimberly’s and then, faintly, Tommy’s “Are you okay?”

She doesn’t get to find out if Kimberly’s okay or not because the door opens and there she is, narrowing her eyes in confusion at Trini.

“Oh my God, you’re soaked…”

“Yeah, it’s kinda raining.”

Through the window across the room, Trini sees lightning flash, and she stiffens at yet another boom of thunder.

“Only kinda,” Kimberly murmurs, smiling wryly; she pries Trini’s jacket from her hands and motions with her free hand, “Come on in.”

Trini drags her feet inside the hotel room, closing the door behind her and setting her backpack down. She pulls off her shoes and groans as she takes off her socks as well, stuffing them inside of her sneakers, “Disgusting…”

She glances around the hotel room. It’s pretty sizeable - an open floor plan with a full kitchen, a living room, what looks to be a king-sized bed, and a bathroom.

Tommy’s laying on the bed, reading (complete with _very_ teacher-y glasses on), and he gives her a brief wave.

“You’re wearing glasses,” she states.

“He’s blind as a bat,” Kimberly teases, coming out of the bathroom, and looks at Trini, “I hung your jacket in the bathroom to dry it off, but there’s a laundry room downstairs, if you need it, considering.”

Considering her sad state, yeah.

Kimberly hands her two towels, “For you. And your backpack.”

Trini mutters her thanks and drapes one towel on her shoulder blades and kneels, opening her backpack to assess the damage. She only had her history textbook and folder in her bag, and both check out relatively okay with the only thing being that the folder itself is a little damp, but none of her notes seem to have smeared. Good enough. She quickly wipes down her backpack, satisfied that her biggest crisis of the moment has been averted.

“Hey,” Kimberly says, “You didn’t go home after everyone left, did you? ‘Cause I know you said you were gonna hang around the quarry for a little bit.” She leans against the kitchen counter, watching Trini with curious eyes.

Trini frowns and takes the towel around her neck, using it to dry her hair as an excuse to not look at Kimberly. “Uh, no,” she mutters, “I didn’t.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Why’re you assuming there’s anything to talk about? Maybe I just wanted to have some alone time.” Trini doesn’t mean to snap, but she just does. Something about Kimberly just irks her, makes her more predetermined to get irritated easier.

Not to mention she doesn’t want to think about Kim right now, and looking at Kimberly leads her to do exactly that.

They _really_ fucking look alike, and it’s starting to creep her out.

Kimberly doesn’t show any reaction to Trini’s abrasiveness and simply shrugs, “Okay. But I’m here if you need me. And Tommy is, too.”

Trini glances at Tommy, who flashes her a thumbs up over his book. Alright.

"Did I startle you when I knocked on the door?" Trini just blurts out, remembering Kimberly's shout.

"Mmmmmm."

"She banged her foot on the desk."

"Shut up, _Dr._ Oliver."

"You love me."

Trini's starting to understand why Kim always finds these two gross.

Kimberly opens one of the kitchen cabinets and pulls out a packet of hot chocolate, raising her eyebrows at Trini, “Weather channel says the storm isn’t gonna blow over ‘til, like, two tonight, so… how ‘bout I make you some hot chocolate, get you a change of clothes, you throw those into the laundry room downstairs, and crash on the couch for tonight?”

“Uh… hold on, lemme check.” Trini pulls out her phone and sends a text to 1) both of her parents saying that she was staying at Zack’s to help him take care of his mother for the night and 2) Zack saying that she was “supposedly” crashing at his place for the night and helping him take care of his mom.

Zack texts back almost immediately.

_[ZT 10:29 PM] uh im not even at home lmaoooo_

_[ZT 10:30 PM] where r u @ then tf_

_[T 10:30 PM] not home obvsly_

_[ZT 10:30 PM] touche_

“Yeah,” Trini says, looking at Kimberly and nodding, “I’m good to crash here tonight.”

“Alright, then.” Kimberly grabs the coffee pot from the counter, fills it up with water, and turns it on. She crosses the room to the dresser that’s under the TV on the wall and in front of the bed, shifting through some clothes. “How d’you feel about pink?”

The look Kimberly gives Trini has her feeling like she’s being seen right through.

Trini shivers and clears her throat, “Uh, I don’t- it’s whatever.”

Kimberly nods and pulls out a white t-shirt and pink shorts, tossing them on the couch, “Pajamas. You’re totally welcome to the shower and everything else, too.”

“Alright, thanks,” Trini takes her towels and heads for the bathroom, stopping when she gets in the doorway and looking at Tommy, “You guys aren’t gonna start fucking while I’m asleep, are you? Gotta be clear.”

Kimberly snorts, plopping herself down on the bed next to Tommy and dissolving into giggles; Tommy himself chuckles and puts his book down.

“We didn’t _actually_ have sex last night,” he says with an amused smile, “Kim has a thing about hotel rooms.”

“Yeah, I used to do a lot of traveling, and people… _really_ like fooling around in hotel rooms. And some of those walls are pretty thin, so. I never wanna be that kind of asshole,” Kimberly laughs, “So, we were just messing with you guys. I mean, Zack’s reaction was pretty great.”

Trini rolls her eyes but ends up laughing at the thought, probably her first one of the entire day.

It’s definitely a relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Not In That Way - Sam Smith.


	2. and time's forever frozen still // kimberly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter how long it's been, Kimberly still finds herself haunted by Trini's death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day two: rainbow. 
> 
> takes place between ch8 and ch9 and, chronologically, after day one's prompt. i know, neither of those chapters are things i've written yet, but.

Kimberly is wide awake hours before her alarm goes off. She glances at her phone on the nightstand and sighs softly at the 4:56 AM that flashes back at her. There’s no going back to sleep now that she’s got her eyes open.

She tries to get out of bed as slowly as she can, slipping out of the covers with some difficulty. It feels like the harder she tries to not disturb Tommy, the more the mattress creaks under her shifting weight. Of course it would.

Tommy rolls over, and Kimberly freezes.

“Wha’ time issit…?” he sleepily slurs.

“Go back to sleep, babe,” she responds, turning and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

That wakes him up even more, unfortunately, and he peers at her in the darkness of their hotel room, “Where’re you going?”

“Clear my head,” Kimberly says, shrugging, “I think I might go for a run.”

Tommy sits up and fumbles for his phone. “It’s five in the morning, Kim,” he mumbles.

“I’ll be careful. Promise.”

He makes a soft noise of acceptance and lays back down, holding his hand out. Kimberly touches her fingertips to his and smiles, even though they can’t quite see each other in the dark, “Love you. I’ll be back soon.”

“Love you, too.”

She goes to the dresser and feels around for her workout clothes, changing as quietly as she can. At one point, she hits her elbow against the wall and curses quietly to herself; Tommy chuckles, still faintly awake.

“Shut up.”

“You can turn on the lights, you know,” he whispers back.

Yeah, but Kimberly’s always been somewhat stubborn.

Grabbing her phone and earbuds from the nightstand (and thankfully avoiding any more incidents with bumping into furniture), Kimberly navigates the rest of the room, using the soft backlight from her screen as a guide.

She passes by the couch where Trini is sprawled out from last night underneath extra sheets they had called up from room service. The girl is snoring softly, and Kimberly smiles to herself, amused. Trini puts up such a snarky front with her, but that’ll go away, eventually. Hopefully.

Kimberly slips out the door, making sure to not let it close too loudly, and sticks her earbuds in, heading for the elevator.

 

* * *

 

Her run takes her back to the quarry and the trails near it that weave through the mountainside. Kimberly jogs until she reaches the cliff looking out over the lake Kim had showed her yesterday. She’s definitely awake, now, after going from the hotel to here, and not to mention the little bit of training that’d gone on yesterday, but also, tired and feeling a bit sore.

The sun is starting to peek up over the horizon, just slightly illuminating the sky.

Kimberly sits down, dangling her legs over the cliff’s edge. She’s not in the right clothes to just dive in, take a swim, and bask in the beauty of the lake, but she makes a mental note to come back at a later time.

Taking a deep breath, Kimberly pulls out her earbuds, closes her eyes, tilts her head back, and quiets her mind, listening to the ambient sounds of nature.

Birds chirping, the slight breeze rustling the leaves on the trees.

The air itself is still pretty humid from the rain stopping only a few hours ago. It’s… a little bit gross, but at this point, she already feels gross from running, so what’s a little bit more general ickiness?

Kimberly opens her eyes, and the first thing she sees is the faint image of a rainbow stretching out over the sky. Her breath catches, the thought running through her head immediately being that she wants to share something that’s so beautiful in the quiet of the early morning.

Of course, when she stops to think about it, her automatic instinct is to share it with Trini.

It’s where her mind just brings her to, without even thinking, despite the fact that Trini’s been dead for years. In her heart, though, their fire of their friendship is still alive and burning, if only a little dimmer than it had been decades ago.

The wound is fresher when she looks at the other Trini. Younger, more guarded, feistier, a little bit rougher around the edges, but the feeling that she gets in her stomach, it’s the same one. An indescribable _thing_ that she just knows means _Trini._

A part of how they’re all somehow connected. A mystery that has yet to be solved.

Kimberly pulls out her phone and snaps a few shots of the sky, the rainbow, and the sun slowly rising behind it. She shifts through the pictures, picking out the best one and sends it off to two places.

The first, her Instagram. Kimberly opens up the app, waits for it to lazily load, and posts it with a caption.

 **_kimberlyannhart_ ** _Woke up to a pretty sunrise and a beautiful rainbow this morning. I thought of you, and sometimes, it’s hard when I think too much, but you would’ve given me a deep life lesson to ease my grief. “The same way a rainbow appears after a storm, you too will see the beauty of everything after you power through tough times.” Or something like that. I miss you, always._

Her thumb hovers over an emoji on her keyboard, her heart clenching. She taps it once and lets out a heavy sigh at the sight of the yellow heart after her “always.”

The second, Kimberly pulls up her contacts and clicks on Trini Not-Kwan (it had seemed pretty funny to her when she had entered the name in her phone, but Tommy had just looked at her like she was a little bit too sleep-deprived). She attaches the picture to a text message and sends it off.

_[KO 5:37 AM] Went out for a run. I saw this and thought you’d like it._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Photograph - Ed Sheeran.


	3. a heart that wants your heart // kimberly/kat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kimberly's at a bar, and there's a pretty girl at the counter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day three: first date.
> 
> takes place pre-tomberly marriage, post-trini's death, approximately spring 2002.
> 
> bonus points for fake dating.

Kimberly nurses her pint of beer, sullenly glancing down the counter at a guy flirting with a blonde at the end of the counter.

He’d been hitting on her about fifteen minutes earlier, but Kimberly had blown him off with an effortless, wearied laziness. The only problem with that was that he’d gone and chatted up Kat, who was currently being significantly more responsive than she had.

Kat says something to make the guy laugh, and he touches Kat’s arm, grinning.

Kimberly’s sure that if she gripped her glass any harder, it’d shatter.

Kat and the guy - Tom, a name which Kimberly thinks he is utterly undeserving of - glance at her; Kat smiles and gives her a small wave. Tom says something to Kat that has her smile turning into a half-frown, and that’s when Kimberly has had enough.

She thinks “enough,” but really, it’s not like Tom’s being a complete douchebag or anything. Kimberly just doesn’t want to see him talking to Kat anymore. It completely ruins the point of the night, anyway, since Kat had invited her out for drinks, but Kimberly had just… shoved herself into a corner and sulked.

She stands, taking her beer with her, and swaggers over to Kat and Tom, “Hey, you guys.”

“Hey, Kim,” Kat greets. Her eyes are especially blue tonight.

“So, you two know each other?” Tom asks, his eyebrows raising in interest.

Kimberly’s a little bit buzzed, but not flat-out drunk. Which, looking back at this later, she doesn’t know if it’d been better or worse if she had been drunk.

“Yeah, I’m her girlfriend,” she blurts out.

Kat coughs into her hand, her eyes widening a bit as she shoots Kimberly a look of disbelief.

“Oh, cool, I see,” is the only thing Tom says. He looks a little bit disappointed, and Kimberly’s pride swells up.

At least, until Kat says, “Could you give us a minute, Tom?”

He nods and walks off to another corner of the pub, and Kimberly shies away from Kat’s amused look.

“What?”

“You’re my _girlfriend_ ? _Really_? He wasn’t even being a dick.”

Kimberly shrugs, not saying anything. There’s no heterosexual explanation for what she had said. Kat leans closer, her eyes twinkling with amusement still, “If I didn’t know any better, Kim, I’d say you sound a little jealous.”

Maybe it’s the beer. Maybe it’s the promise that life could end at any time for any of them.

Kimberly stands up straighter, but it doesn’t make her any shorter than Kat. “Maybe I am,” she challenges.

A smile tugs at the corner of Kat’s lips, “Well… maybe I want you to be.”

Oh, shit.

That’s all she needs to get some confidence running through her veins again. She brushes her fingers over Kat’s, the ghost of a touch. “Why don’t we get out of here?” she suggests, her heart racing in her chest.

At Kat’s nod, Kim rushes to finish and pay for her beer.

They’re out the door in seconds flat, leaving sullen sulking and poor Tom behind.

 

* * *

 

Kimberly and Kat are walking down the street, side by side, arms linked. This could be everything she’s ever wanted. It’s not, but it could be. It’s enough for now.

“You know, since you _are_ my ‘girlfriend,’” Kat says, smirking at the way Kimberly clears her throat, “I think you should’ve told me we were dating. I would’ve paid more attention if I’d known we were on _dates_ whenever we went out.”

Kimberly rolls her eyes, but she’s feeling reckless, daring, “Then let’s go right now.”

Kat laughs; it sounds magical, “ _Now_? Seriously? Kim, it’s, like, almost midnight.”

“Yeah, now,” she responds, boldly, her voice a void of jest; Kimberly pulls her arm out of Kat’s and tugs on her hand, instead, “I’m your _girlfriend_ , aren’t I? Let me take you on a date.”

She _definitely_ just made herself taken without thinking about it.

This night is one for the books, for sure.

Kat sobers up and stares at her for a long moment, contemplating. “Yeah, alright, fine,” she says, squeezing Kimberly’s hand, “Let’s go.”

Kimberly lets out the breath she’d been holding as a sigh of relief.

 

* * *

 

They settle on a McDonald’s. Kat shakes her head and chuckles to herself, but Kimberly elbows her in the side, and they end up dissolving into a mess of giggles and playful smacking before they’re even through the door.

“I can’t believe our first date is at a McDonald’s,” Kat fakes a disappointed frown as she munches on a fry.

“You say that, but you already finished your fries. Sorry, _chips_ ,” Kimberly corrects herself, smiling as Kat rolls her eyes.

Kat shrugs and reaches over the table, taking another one of Kimberly’s fries, “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m not hungry. And a good girlfriend shares.”

“Uh, that’s some bullshit, Hillard.”

“Think of it like this… I won’t complain about you taking me to McDonald’s if I get to have some of your fries,” Kat says, smiling sweetly.

Kimberly kicks her under the table.

Kat takes her entire fry container, and when Kimberly tries to grab for it, she holds it high over her head, laughing, “Say you’re sorry for kicking me, Hart.”

“Stop being a freeloader,” she mutters, standing up and snatching her fries back, “I paid for your meal.”

They’re the only occupants in the restaurant right now. The cashier probably thinks they’re crazy. Or maybe he couldn’t care less because it’s past midnight.

“So,” Kat starts, slowly, “Since you’ve got a _girlfriend_ here, now… does that mean you’re staying?”

Kimberly raises her eyebrows; Kat continues, faking a pout, “I mean… you can’t just take a girl out for a meal and then leave her stranded across the sea.”

Kat’s words have her snorting and shaking her head, “France is hardly across the sea. It’s not that far away.”

“Yeah, but-” Kat reaches across the table; Kim tenses, “Oh, calm down, I’m just trying to hold your hand.” Oh, right. Kat’s hand is familiarly warm and comfortable top of her own.

Still, Kimberly guards her fries with watchful eyes.

“Anyway, you said that you were thinking about moving here,” Kat asks, “Is that… still on the table?”

“Um,” she shrugs, “I don’t know, it depends. Do you still have room for me at your flat?”

“Yeah.”

“Then... it’s off the table.”

Kat seems to shrink with disappointment, making a movement to pull her hand away, “Oh.”

Kimberly stops her, a smile teasing the corners of her lips, “It’s off the table… because I’m _definitely_ moving here.”

It takes a moment for Kat to process, and when she does, she looks _so_ offended, promptly kicking Kimberly on the shin under the table, “God, you are _such_ a fucking tease.”

She is, and she loves it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Know Your Name - Mary Lambert.


	4. let's pray we stay young // kim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kimberly Hart had always figured she had a common enough name, but it's never been a problem 'til, well, 'til her doppelganger started living in the same town as her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day four: identity shenanigans.
> 
> takes place... who knows. sometime during legacy of power. pre-tommie's arrival, which helps nobody in terms of time approximation lol.

Since her parents aren’t usually home by the time school is over (and, especially recently, they’ve been home even later than their usual work hours), Kim’s the one who’s tasked with getting the mail everyday. After she parks her car in the driveway, she goes and checks the mailbox at the curb, opening it to find a small, brown box laying inside on top of some junk mail.

Kim doesn’t think much of the box, figuring it’s one of her parents’, so she grabs everything and heads inside the house. She drops the pile of mail onto the coffee table, noting that yesterday’s pile is well and gone. At least that’s a sign her parents have been home, even if she doesn’t catch them anymore.

It’s been a long ass day, and the cafeteria food was, somehow, worse than usual today, so Kim spends a couple of minutes throwing a sandwich together for herself. She plops down on the couch with her plate, eats, and spends a good hour flipping through TV channels and settling on a rerun of NCIS, if only for the tall glass of water that is Ziva David.

When she’s finished eating, Kim goes and sets her plate in the sink before shifting through the mail. Most of it’s junk - advertisements, coupons to restaurants that the Harts never go to, blah blah blah. There’s a copy of this month’s electric bill, so Kim sets that aside from the pile of junk mail.

She picks up the box, just meaning to glance at if it’s for Mom or Dad, but her face scrunches up in confusion at the name on the box. _Kimberly Hart._

Well, Kim doesn’t remember ordering anything within the past couple of days.

She reads the address, and everything clicks into place.

 _Comfort Inn Suites_ _  
_ _Greenfield Avenue_  
_Angel Grove, CA 90050_

Of course.

Kim pulls out her phone and sends a quick text.

_[KH 4:13 PM] hey are you in your hotel room?_

The reply bings back just as quickly.

_[KO 4:13 PM] Yeah, why?_

_[KO 4:13 PM] Need something?_

_[KH 4:14 PM] your mail got dropped off at my house lmao._

_[KO 4:14 PM] What mail…_

_[KO 4:14 PM] A box???_

_[KO 4:14 PM] Do. Not. Open that box._

She just can’t resist the moment she reads Kimberly’s text.

_[KH 4:15 PM] open the box you said????_

_[KO 4:15 PM] DO NOT._

_[KO 4:15 PM] Your parents won’t recognize your corpse._

_[KH 4:15 PM] when will you stop making empty promises lol?_

_[KH 4:15 PM] i’m heading over with your illegal things._

 

* * *

 

The door to room 309 opens, and Kim cheekily smiles at Kimberly, who looks like she’s been spending all day in bed, her hair slightly tousled, dressed in one of the hotel’s complimentary robes.

“So, what’s in the box?” she asks, curiously, a bright grin on her face.

Kimberly reaches for it, almost immediately, and Kim steps back, holding it out of Kimberly’s grasp.

“None of your business,” Kimberly mutters, a stern look forming on her features. Kim’s gotten used to it pretty quickly. It’s Kimberly’s Mom Look™.

“Which means it’s something _you_ don’t want me to know about,” Kim says, her smile lighting up more, even if possible. She shakes the box, and the cringe on Kimberly’s face is worth it all; something makes a small thumping sound inside the box as it’s shaken around, “Ooh, sounds like it’s good. What is it?”

Kimberly sighs and crosses her arms but stays silent, frowning.

“Oh, come on, you’re not gonna make me guess, are you? You _know_ I’m bad at guessing. _We’re_ bad at guessing.”

“I’m not bad at guessing,” Kimberly states, rolling her eyes.

“Yes, we are,” Kim counters, ignoring the woman’s second eyeroll, “Is it… something… explicit?”

Silence.

“Oh my _God_ , is it a sex toy?”

Kimberly actually _blushes_ , and Kim groans, sticking her tongue out in disgust, “Oh, _gross_.” She practically tosses the box at Kimberly, who catches it easily then cracks up with amused laughter.

“It’s not a sex toy,” Kimberly says between giggles, leaning against the doorway for support, “It’s a gift for Tommy. Although, I can’t believe how well you fall for that stuff.”

“Why didn’t you become an actor so you could live far away from here and stop torturing me?”

Kimberly shrugs, smirking, “It just doesn’t feel like home if I’m not embarrassing you.”

“Shut up,” Kim groans, but she returns Kimberly’s smile with sincerity.

Kimberly opens the door wider and motions for Kim to come in, “I’m totally free if you wanna hang out since you’re already here.”

Kim walks into the hotel room and takes a seat at the kitchen counter, leaning on the countertop with her elbows and propping her chin up in her hands. “You gonna tell me what’s inside the box?”

“Nope,” Kimberly responds, popping the ‘p’ and chuckling, “It’s a surprise.”

Kim snorts, “Uh, yeah, for _Tommy_ , not for me. What’s the occasion?”

“Yeah, but it’d be nicer if everyone else saw it after Tommy, not before him. Kinda defeats the purpose, in my opinion,” Kimberly feels around for an opening in the cracks of the box’s shipping tape and adorable goes “aha!” when she finds one, then proceeds to tear the box open with her bare hands, no boxcutter required.

“Must be that Ranger strength,” Kim teases.

“Oh, you know it. And, as for what it’s for, in a couple of days, it’ll be two years since Tommy proposed to me.”

“Via parachute. Right.”

Kimberly laughs, “What can I say? Being a Ranger just brings all this extra excitement into your life.” She takes the box and goes to hide it, well, somewhere, supposedly somewhere good where Tommy won’t find it, but considering they’re staying in the same hotel room, that’s probably hard.

But, then again, it’s Tommy.

“D’you know anyone else who’d be willing to do a parachute proposal?” Kim calls after her, “‘Cause, if you do, hook a girl up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Girl Almighty - One Direction.


	5. dreaming of bigger things // kim+jason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whenever Kim wakes up, Jason plans on lecturing her about swimming during a storm warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day five: au free-for-all (of which i chose the flash au because it deserves one for all the times kim - and everyone else - but mostly kim never shuts up about it in legacy verse). this isn't necessarily a straight-up flash au since it's not... in the flash universe but whatever.
> 
> takes place outside of canon, during the same time as the beginning of the movie (which i headcanon to be late September 2016).

The night that turns her into a Power Ranger, instead, turns her into a superhero.

Which, in reality, isn’t that much different.

Except that it’s _only_ her.

Kim goes swimming that night, in the lake by the quarry, to clear her head. The water is cool, fresh, and in it, she forgets all of her troubles, if only momentarily. There is supposed to be a storm later on, but her weather app had said that it’d be later, during the early morning, and Kim trusts it.

She shouldn’t trust it with her life, though, because as she turns over on her back to just float and relax in the water, the sky flashes with lightning.

Oh, _shit._ Kim flails and panics for a hot second, splashing in the water as she rights herself and then starts swimming to dry land. Being caught in the storm isn’t even on her mind; she’s just worrying about the downpour that’ll most likely catch her as she walks home.

But, the problem is, she never gets home.

There’s a crack of thunder, loud and earth-shattering, and then another flash of lightning falls down from the sky, striking the lake with uncanny precision.

Kim doesn’t even see it, doesn’t even feel it.

But, what she does hear is her name being called out, drowned out by the coming storm.

 

* * *

 

It’s not quite odd to hear music drifting about in the woods - it’s usually always someone just hanging around, but Jason’s just a little curious. He figures he’ll just check to see who it is, if it’s anyone he knows, or if it’s some up-in-the-woods bonfire or whatever.

He sees Kimberly Hart dive into the water in, basically, her underwear, and he turns to go. It feels a bit like he’s invading her privacy, just watching her like that or whatever, so he should probably leave. Billy still gave him the car for a couple of hours, so.

Jason jingles the keys in his hand, but lightning flashing in the sky causes him to whirl back around.

Shit, there was supposed to be a storm tonight.

Everything happens in an instant.

He sees Kim in the water, floating on her back, then sees her realization of what’s happening. Jason’s legs aren’t fast enough - especially with his brace and crappy knee - as he jogs down the slope, trying to get to the shore and help Kim get out of the water. His foot snags on a root, and he goes tumbling down the slope, cursing at himself.

When Jason recovers and scrambles to his feet, the first thing he sees is a phenomenon that he’ll never quite be able to explain, even with the image scarred into his brain forever.

A bolt of lightning - red, even, when has lightning ever been _red_? -  comes down from the sky, almost like it was thrown, and strikes the surface of the lake, a perfection union of electricity and water.

Kim is still in the water, almost to shore when it hits. Her body convulses for a few seconds, and then she goes still.

“Kimberly!” Her name is out of his mouth before he can even think, and his feet are taking him as fast as they can go to the water’s edge. The sky crackles with lightning and thunder again, but Jason doesn’t care. He’ll chance being struck down if only he can save Kim first.

He almost - _almost_ \- jumps right in to get her but thinks better of it. Can he get shocked as well? Does water conduct electricity? Is there still an electrical charge in the lake?

All questions Jason doesn’t know the answer to, but he doesn’t wanna find out by trial and error.

Thankfully, a slow, soft current is pushing Kim’s body towards him, so eventually, she drifts close enough for him to - gingerly and reluctantly for fear of getting electrocuted - grab at her arm and pulls her ashore.

Jason lays her on her back and puts two fingers under her neck, checking for her pulse. It’s not strong, but it’s there. Faintly.

“Kim?” He gently shakes her, but she doesn’t wake.

Alright, well. Plan B.

Ignoring how uncomfortable it makes him to be touching her, Jason picks Kim up, one arm around her shoulders and the other underneath her knees. Her head slumps against his shoulder, and he prays that it’s not gonna stay that way.

It’s tough for him to hike back up the slope, especially with only his legs _and_ with a person in his arms, but Jason manages it, somehow. When he reaches the top, it’s already started pouring buckets. His clothes are soaked and Kim’s unconscious so she can’t complain about the cold, but he takes his jacket off and drapes it over her body, regardless.

“Okay, think, Jason. Think.”

Billy. He needs to find Billy.

The van is on his way, first, so Jason sets Kim down, apologizing profusely for putting her on the ground, despite the fact that she can’t hear him. Or can she? Oh, it’s whatever.

He unlocks the car, fumbling with the keys, and opens the trunk. Thankfully, there’s some towels in the back, so he lays them out flat and lifts Kim into the van, making sure her body isn’t in an uncomfortable position. When he’s done, Jason closes the trunk and jogs - limps, more like it - off to find Billy.

Billy is still where Jason had left him in the quarry, except he’s now with two other people, a guy and a girl, all of them shielding themselves from the downpour of rain.

“Hey! Billy!” he calls out, getting the three’s attention. They run in his direction, instead, and when they get closer, he recognizes the guy as Zack Taylor from school. The girl, though, he has no clue who she is.

“We have to get out of this storm,” the girl mutters the moment she stops in front of him. Her jacket is pulled over her head, and a scowl is on her face. She’s not scowling at him, but Jason still feels uncomfortable, like her grumpiness puts him off.

“I know, someone got hurt-” At their chorus of “What?”, Jason continues, rambling, “She- shit, I don’t even know, there was lightning, and she’s unconscious- I don’t know, we’re wasting time, and I _need_ to take her to the hospital.”

That seems to get everyone into gear, and they all just wordlessly agree to pile into Billy’s mom’s van, especially since it’s the only shelter around.

The girl - Trini, she curtly introduces herself to them in the car - sits in the trunk, making sure that Kim doesn’t bang her head on anything while Jason drives.

They get to the hospital in complete silence.

 

* * *

 

Kim’s parents are notified and come to Angel Grove Community Hospital as soon as they can. They’re greeted in the waiting room by four sopping wet teenagers, one of which includes Angel Grove’s golden boy, Jason Scott. The Harts thank them all for saving Kimberly, but it doesn’t help ease the sinking feeling Jason has in his stomach.

 _Saving_ her just makes everything sound a whole lot worse, somehow.

The next morning, Jason goes with Billy to grab his stuff from the quarry that he’d left in everyone’s haste to escape from the storm. On the way back, he grabs Kim's stuff that she'd had by the lake the night before, with a heavy heart.

That afternoon, he goes to visit Kim in the hospital and is told by her parents that she’s in coma. His heart, already at the bottom of his stomach, drops through the floor.

If he’d been a little faster, would it have made any difference?

The weeks pass. Jason suffers through detention but passes notes back and forth with Billy to waste time. They end up having to sit next to each other to make the note-passing easier since Billy’s aim isn’t the greatest, and sitting next to each other prevents assholes from snatching their notes out of the air.

Kim’s desk stays heart-wrenchingly empty.

Every day, he and Billy visit Kim at the hospital. Her room had rapidly filled up with flowers, gifts, and balloons, all of which make Jason feel a little sick to his stomach. They don’t really say anything to her - or, well, at least, Jason doesn’t say much. Billy just talks about his adventures at the mine or whatever project he’s working on now. He tells the story of how he ended up in detention by blowing up his lunchbox, and it’s the first time Jason’s laughed in weeks.

Sometimes, Trini and Zack visit Kim, too, and sit in with them. The four of them aren’t close, but Jason does see Zack in passing, sometimes, in the hallways. Trini murmurs that Kim was in her biology class and stares at her feet for most of the time.

They get used to it after awhile, but for the first month, Kim’s heart stopped at least a dozen times, sending Jason into a panic for all of them, but whenever doctors and nurses had rushed into the room and shooed them out, Kim had turned out fine.

One day, Jason can hear some of the staff out in the hallway talking about doing double and triple checks on the machines hooked up to Kim and possibly switching them out for newer ones.

He reaches out and touches Kim’s limp hand.

A small, static shock causes him to flinch, drawing his hand back.

No, the machines aren’t the problem at all.

 

* * *

 

About three months after Kim’s accident, a couple shows up at her hospital room, looking for her.

The Olivers are what they introduce themselves as, but there’s something so _strange_ in how Jason looks at the woman and sees Kim.

The man shows Jason a business card for credibility. Or something.

 _Anton Mercer Industries_  
_Dr. Tommy Oliver, PhD_  
_Senior Research Specialist_

Jason’s defensive, up until the moment Kim’s parents also show up and tell him and the others that they already gave the Olivers consent to just take their daughter away.

“She’ll be perfectly fine,” the woman says, “We’ll be running tests on her, seeing how her body reacted to being struck by lightning. It’s all completely safe, and you’re welcome to still come visit her.”

It sounds too good to be true, especially when Kim’s mom tells him sometime later that she and Kim’s dad had said yes because the Olivers - and Anton Mercer Industries, apparently - had told her they’d take Kim for no charge.

Well, that definitely took care of the hospitals bills, that’s for sure.

Still, it sounds too… perfect.

He doesn't like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Thunder - Imagine Dragons.
> 
> i told myself this wasn't going to turn into a full-fledged au, but considering i didn't even touch kim's powers in this prompt... it's gonna turn into a full-fledged au. and i hate it. i hate myself. why do i keep doing this???


	6. the life that i left behind // tori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori's been a Power Ranger long enough to know "not normal" when she sees it falling out of the sky and plummeting towards the earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day six: discovery.
> 
> i'm not sure this is canon to legacy's version of ninja steel quite yet but...
> 
> anyway [eye emoji]

She’s never even  _ heard _ of Summer Cove before coming here, to be honest, but wherever Kira goes, Tori follows.

At least, to reasonable extents.

She can’t follow Kira into whatever super important meetings she has with these talent buyers, which is entirely understandable. She’d just be bored out of her mind, anyway, and most likely pretty biased toward convincing those bookers that Kira choosing their venue is a  _ blessing. _ And that helps no one.

So, now, she’s stuck going around town, looking for something to do. After driving around for a good twenty minutes, Tori settles for a small sandwich joint, pulling her car into the parking lot.

She walks in, noting the cozy, quiet buzz of the atmosphere. It’s an entire world different from Hayley’s Cyberspace, and she much prefers this, instead. Tori places her order and takes it from the cashier with a polite smile, grabbing herself a small table by the glass windows at the front of the restaurant.

With one hand holding her sandwich as she takes a couple of bites of it, she slips her phone out of her pocket with her other hand and taps out a short text to Kira with her thumb.

_ [TH 10:23 AM] hows bsnss going grabbed a gr8 sandwich w/o u. :( _

_ [KF 10:23 AM] Are you eating while texting??? _

_ [KF 10:23 AM] Of course you are. _

_ [KF 10:23 AM] It’s going good! Get me something for later? <3 _

_ [TH 10:24 AM] k _

_ [KF 10:24 AM] How dare you ‘k’ me… I want a divorce. >:( _

Tori stupidly grins at her phone and taps her keyboard again.

_ [TH 10:24 AM] k :) _

She sets her phone down and finishes the rest of her sandwich in record time, wiping her hands on a napkin. Her phone buzzes in rapid succession, and she glances at it.

_ [KF 10:25 AM] The sass… _

_ [KF 10:25 AM] I never should’ve let you come. _

_ [TH 10:25 AM] Calm down. I’m done with my sandwich. _

_ [TH 10:25 AM] Hold on, I have a bag of chips, too. :D _

_ [KF 10:25 AM] Rude. _

Kira’s offense has her chuckling, and Tori shakes her head at herself. “God, you’re such a dork,” she murmurs to nobody. But, it’s true. She’s a dork in love with Kira, and Kira is one for her.

She reaches for her chips, getting ready to open them, when something out the window catches her eye. Tori squints, seeing people in the parking lot outside point at the sky - at little specks falling from the sky.

Normally, she’d chalk it up to a random meteor shower. Or something.

But her Ranger senses tell her otherwise.

In seconds, Tori’s out the door, dialling Kira’s number on her phone, hopping into her car, and pulling out of the parking lot. Her (unfortunately) unopened bag of chips goes into the cup holder with a disappointed sigh. She’ll have to finish it later.

The other line rings once, and then Kira’s voice is in her ear.

_ “Hey, what’s up?” _

She’s speaking in a quiet voice, so Tori assumes her call probably interrupted a meeting.

“Hey, sorry for calling, but, uh…” she glances out of her windshield - the debris is still falling, “I have a feeling there’s something weird going on.”

_ “What?”  _ There’s a pause, some shuffling noises, and then,  _ “Does it have to do with everyone running outside and pointing at the sky?” _

“Good guess… I’m gonna go check it out because that doesn’t  _ just _ look like meteorite bits or whatever.” Tori’s eyes aren’t amazingly great, like, they’re no Superman vision, but she’s positive she saw plenty of different shapes in that debris. And plenty of different shapes could mean trouble. “Do you need me to come get you?”

_ “Uh, no, no, there’s no need,”  _ Kira says; Tori can practically hear her shaking her head,  _ “I saw it. You’re closer. Go check it out, and I’ll catch up.” _

“Gotcha.”

_ “You have your morpher?” _

Tori doesn’t even have to think about it. “Yeah, I have it.”

_ “Alright. Be careful. I love you.” _

“Always. Love you, too.” She hangs up and shoves her phone back into her pocket, relieved to have both hands on the wheel again. Driving around Summer Cove is difficult, especially when she doesn’t know what roads lead where, but since she knows she’s heading towards the woods outside of town, that’s pretty easy. Just follow the general direction of the falling debris she’d seen.

Tori makes it to the edge of the woods after some minutes of driving and parks her car. There isn’t a smoke trail to follow, which would make things a whole lot easier, but then again, she supposes she shouldn’t wish for there to be anything on fire.

A distant  _ boom  _ sounds in the air, and Tori freezes.

“Of course,” she mutters, “You just  _ had _ to ask for it.”

She reaches over into the glove compartment and pulls out her morpher, strapping it onto her wrist. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to use it, but better to be safe than sorry. With that, Tori scrambles out of her car and locks the door, breaking out into a run straight into the woods as another  _ boom _ fills the air.

Time to go find out what fell from the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from The Longer I Run - Peter Bradley Adams.
> 
> this is the first prompt i've posted past midnight, i'm sad.


	7. even heroes fall down now and then // kimberly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kimberly's been evil before, but it's never haunted her like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day seven: underground.
> 
> takes place after the turbo movie, approximately summer 1997.
> 
> me: im not gonna include an actual m/f ship as the focus of a prompt  
> also me: a hoe for mmpr jason/kim  
> me: ehhhh i'll throw in kim/kat with a hint of jason/tommy to keep it gay

It’s only been a few months after what Kimberly’s beginning to call “The Divatox Incident.”

She has other names for it, too: the lava pit, that one time…, you-know-what.

Jason says it’s something to move on from.

But, actually, it’s their worst nightmare.

After graduation, Jason makes plans to go to college down south. He’s picked a university in Arizona; Kimberly doesn’t pick anything. She ignores her mom’s calls for weeks, and Jason doesn’t push her any further.

What they do talk about, between sleepless nights and entire days spent in bed, both for reasons less than enjoyable, is Maligore.

Kimberly still feels his presence under her skin, a fire that lights up her skin from the inside. She and Jason sleep in the same bed, but Kimberly sticks a pillow between them and flinches away whenever his leg brushes hers in the middle of the night. Sometimes, during breakfast, she forgets and puts her hand on his back as she walks by, and he tenses as well.

Before they break up and before an injury ends Kim’s gymnastics career, they go caving together in California, one last time.

Darkness. Tight spaces.

In theory, it’s a terrible idea, but maybe they both want to be swallowed up by the earth.

In reality, it’s still a terrible idea.

She breaks down, early on, pressing her back against the rock wall.

His voice is in her head, gravelly, nails on a chalkboard - but Maligore never spoke out loud, no, it’s her voice as him, her voice when she was evil. Her voice chanting.

Into the fire, into the fire.

“Kim,” Jason is careful, not touching her, but hovering, letting her know that he’s there, “He’s not here, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she says, but she doesn’t believe him.

Maligore is not here, but he’s inside of her.

They never finish making it to where they wanted to go, to an open space at the bottom of their trail, where the cavern opens up into the sky and everything just stops in the beauty of it all. Kimberly thinks she would’ve liked it, but not now. Not like this. 

Jason leads her out of the cave; his hand in hers feels like molten lava the entire time.

After that, they break up. Drift apart.

Kimberly takes off a few years, wanting to continue her education but knowing she can’t handle the stress while she’s still dealing with herself. She goes to therapy and reluctantly starts talking to some of the other Rangers again, mostly Trini and Adam.

Not Jason. Not Tommy and  _ definitely _ not Kat.

But, then, Trini dies, and everything’s back to the way it was before. Kimberly hates herself for it, but after Trini’s funeral, she thinks about Power Rangers and nothing’s impossible with Power Rangers. She almost voices it aloud, the idea that they should ask the current team for help, but stops herself.

It’s evil, like the idea of sacrificing Tommy to the pit had been evil.

It’s selfish, like wanting more out of life after giving up her powers had been selfish.

She doesn’t fully let go of beating herself up over it until years later. After Katherine, after college, after moving around and never really settling.

It slips away, slowly, when she gets to the period of her life where she and Tommy are finally talking again. It’s not just small talk or obligatory chit-chat at Ranger get-togethers, either. It’s deep, meaningful conversations, punctuated by her touching her screen as she misses him from five thousand miles away.

But, even that kind of love doesn’t make the guilt go away. 

Kimberly thinks about Maligore from time to time. What it’d felt like to have all that power buzzing underneath her skin, how much  _ stronger _ she’d been than a handful of Power Rangers.

She forgives herself, gradually, but it doesn’t come full circle until she meets Kim.

She doesn’t entirely start to move on until she sees the person she used to be and the person she could become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Superman - Rachel Platten.
> 
> i hate that this only loosely fills the prompt and isn't even like an actual scene but like a character study, sorta. but anyway.


	8. get a little closer // kim/tommie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting stuck in an elevator with a pretty girl is such a fucking cliche, Kim thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day eight: elevator.
> 
> takes place some time during legacy of power because i couldn't resist. typical that i'd bring in tommie anywhere else before the main fic.
> 
> vague spoilers for kim's relationships and tommie's background, but that's pretty much it.

“Thanks for coming out with me.”

Kim’s words cause Tommie to snicker, and she raises an eyebrow at the other girl.

“What?”

“I’ll come out with you  _ any _ day,” Tommie replies, smirking. It takes a second, but Kim finally gets the underlying meaning and scoffs, smacking Tommie in the arm.

“Don’t be a jerk.”

Tommie just chuckles and leads the way inside The Grove, Angel Grove’s aptly named primary shopping mall, holding the door open for Kim.

“Me first? I’m flattered,” Kim grins, briefly touching Tommie’s arm as she passes by.

Tommie lets the door close behind her and catches up to Kim, bumping their shoulders together. “Well,” she says with a cheeky smile, “I was always taught to let shorter girls go first-  _ ow _ !”

“I’m literally an inch shorter than you.”

“Yeah, and sensitive about it, too…”

Kim rolls her eyes and heads toward the elevators, pushing the up button and waiting.

“So, did you grow up here?” Tommie asks, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Mostly. My family and I moved here from Seattle when I was six,” Kim says, stepping into the elevator as it beeps and opens; she holds the door for Tommie, chuckling at the faked look of surprise the other girl gives her, “Yeah,  _ I  _ can be polite, too.”

“Consider me flattered,” Tommie snorts; once Kim is inside the elevator as well, she asks, “Where’re we going first?”

Kim jabs the fourth floor button with her thumb, a teasing smile on her lips, “To get you a new jacket.” At Tommie’s offended gasp, she laughs, “I’m just kidding. Food court’s on the fourth level.”

“Good,” Tommie mutters, pulling her green varsity jacket closer around her body, “‘Cause there’s no way I’m parting with this baby.”

“Oh, so it’s your baby, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s my most prized possession.”

“It’s a  _ jacket _ .”

“Whatever. Zack told me you’re married to that leather jacket of yours.”

“I am  _ not, _ Zack’s a liar-”

There’s a loud  _ bang _ as Kim’s cut off, and the elevator comes to a jolting halt with an intrusive  _ brrrrr _ sound that she can only describe as what the personification of error is. Kim grabs onto the railing, sighing under her breath.

“Sorry,” she says to Tommie, “These damn elevators are always acting up.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Tommie responds, but the slight strain in her voice has Kim glancing at her in concern. The other girl grips the railing beside her, knuckles white, shoulders rigid.

Kim takes a step closer to Tommie but keeps her hands at her sides, “You okay?”

Tommie’s eyes squeeze shut, and her lips move silently. Kim recognizes the shape of ‘five,’ and realizes Tommie’s counting to herself. After she reaches ten, Tommie opens her eyes again, slightly frowning. “Not a big fan of getting stuck in closed spaces,” she mutters, clipped and tense.

“Understandable,” she murmurs, “I’m here, you know, if you need me.” Kim offers her hand, and Tommie eyes it, a smirk coming onto her lips.

She’s starting to hate that smirk.

“This part of your plan to get a pretty girl to hold your hand, Hart?”

Kim coughs and covers it up as a snort, but by the look in Tommie’s eyes, she can see she failed miserably, “Oh, please- that’s not- I’m taking back my offer of emotional support, you…  _ walnut _ .”

“Did you just call me a walnut?”

“You’re frustrating.”

There’s a brief moment of awkward silence where neither of them are moving, then Tommie sidles up closer to her and slips her hand into Kim’s. Kim bristles at the contact but doesn’t pull her hand away and, even though she wants to, doesn’t say anything. She just gives Tommie’s hand a brief squeeze.

“The accident,” Tommie says, after a longer pause, “You know, those rumors that are going around school. Like how many foster homes I’ve been in or whatever. How many of those I was kicked out of, how many… have died.

“One’s died,” she continues, “Just one. The Olivers. Car accident. I, uh, I was… in the backseat. So, yeah, closed spaces. And, I mean, that and, um, the one time I was buried alive.”

“What?!” Kim turns her head to stare at Tommie in disbelief that she’s sure she could’ve given herself whiplash.

“It was a dream,” Tommie deadpans.

“You could’ve,” she sputters, her mouth still open incredulously, “You could’ve prefaced with that,  _ instead. _ ”

Tommie shrugs.

There’s another loud  _ bang _ as the elevator begins moving again, and Kim and Tommie both sigh.

“You gonna let go of my hand now?” Kim asks, trying to clear the air. Whether she actually wants Tommie to let go… well, she’s not going to think about that right at the moment.

“Depends,” the other girl muses, “Would your boyfriend be mad if I didn't?”

“You mean Zack?” Kim scoffs, “Not at all.”

The doors finally open as they arrive on the fourth level of the mall, and Tommie walks out first, dragging Kim by the hand. “Then, no,” she says, grinning, “Although, I’m not sure why you said his name as if there’d be anyone else who I’d call ‘your boyfriend.’”

About that…

“No reason,” she mutters, hoping to sound casual enough for Tommie to brush it off.

“Yeah, okay…” Tommie nudges her with her shoulder, raising her eyebrows, “Hey, you know, there’s a coming out joke to be made here.” She motions at their hand-holding with her free hand.

Kim rolls her eyes and sighs, “You’re infuriating.”

“Oh, I  _ know. _ Isn’t it great?”

“Not really.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Cliffs Edge - Hayley Kiyoko.


	9. and for the first time what's past is past // tori/kira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori tries her hardest to avoid a certain Yellow Ranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise bitch bet u thought u had seen the last of me doing these prompts from LAST JUNE...
> 
> prompt day nine: closet
> 
> set during november 2004, post-dino thunder graduation

In the fall of 2004, Tommy brings his new team to Collins Mansion for that year's Ranger Reunion, and Tori avoids them likes the plague. She's already met them when some of the others haven't, so she slips away, quietly, when the Dino Thunder team comes through the door and introductions begin. With so many Ranger teams in a mansion so big that Tori doesn't really know _how_ one family _needs_ all this space -- although, she's glad that it's here for a much grander use, now -- avoiding five people is easy enough. She mingles about, sticking to quieter areas, quieter Rangers like Danny or Ryan or Eric. It's very quickly in the middle of this that Tori realizes that Kira makes friends with the other female Rangers pretty easily as she veers away from heading toward Kat because she spots Kira with her wavy hair and her yellow shirt, standing next to Kat.

Sticking to quieter Rangers had seemed like a good idea because they tend to not attract attention to themselves, but clearly, just nothing she tries will work for avoiding the Dino Thunder team. Tori frowns to herself and goes to refill her cup of soda, her heart jumping when someone grabs at her sleeve. She whirls around, her chest constricting, but it's only Tommy.

"Hey, Kira was looking for you," he says, glancing around to find said student of his, then shrugs, "I think I saw her with Kat."

"Cool," Tori nods, noncommittally as if she hadn't just left the lounge where Kira and Kat had been chatting with some of Turbo Rangers, "Thanks for letting me know." Tommy walks away, and Tori ditches any attempt to get any more soda, tossing her cup in the nearest trash bag.

She keeps her head low, constantly moving around the mansion, but maybe _that's_ what gives her away, in the end. Her plan comes to a screeching halt when she turns into a hallway on the second floor, and suddenly, Kira is there, peeking into one of the bedrooms. Tori panics -- fully _panics,_ even though she'd never admit it in front of the boys -- and ducks into the door right next to her, shifting her weight onto the door as she closes it as quietly as she can. She glances over her shoulder. Just her luck. Of _course,_ she'd run into a linen closet where she can't possibly escape through the window… because there _is_ no window.

Her ninja training helps her steady her breathing despite the fact that she doesn't feel _remotely_ calm. Kira's footsteps get closer and closer, and Tori bites down on her lower lip, keeping her weight on the door when the doorknob to the closet jiggles.

A moment passes. She waits for Kira's footsteps to recede, but, then:

"Tori, I know you're in there."

She sighs, heavily, and lets her forehead softly _thump_ against the door. "There's no Tori in here," she mutters.

"Yeah, just someone who's been avoiding me all night, right?"

Ouch. Tori takes a step back, closing her eyes and briefly wondering if there's a way she could ninja streak away if she yanks the door open fast enough, but the slight possibility of barreling through Kira is enough to make her reconsider recklessly putting someone else in danger just because _she_ can't… talk to a girl. Reluctantly, she opens the door.

Kira stands on the other side, her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised. "Hey," she greets.

"Hi," Tori scratches her head, "Um, congrats on, uh, graduation. And college."

If she didn't have context, she would've wanted to record the look of incredulousness in Kira's eyes as she blinks at her. "Thanks," Kira says, flatly, "Why are you hiding in a closet?"

"Well," she begins, jokingly, nervously, "There's something you should know about sexuality…"

Kira rolls her eyes and shakes her head, "Cut the crap, Tori. We haven't seen each other in months, and the first thing you do is avoid me? I'm not that terrible, am I?"

Tori frowns to herself, realizing that she's been cornered, and sputters, "No, no, you're not terrible--"

"Then what? What is it?" Kira asks, looking at her, expectantly, "What's bugging you so much that you keep leaving the room every time I come in?"

"It's not like I've been talking to Conner, Ethan, or Trent, either, though," she points out, defensively ignoring all of Kira's questions.

"Okay, fine, sure, but _why?_ "

"I--" Tori sighs and runs a hand through her hair, "I've been busy with the academy--"

"You're not busy right now," Kira says, pointedly.

"I don't wanna _hurt_ you," Tori snaps, wincing to herself the moment she raises her voice even slightly higher than she's used to.

Kira pauses, and Tori feels herself melting, and not in a good way, under her stare. "Come on, that's old news," Kira says, shaking her head, "You know I don't hold that against you."

"It's not to _me,_ " she argues, avoiding Kira's eyes, "And _I_ hold it against me."

"Tori--" Kira starts, and when Tori looks at her, she doesn't miss the brief moment where Kira's eyes flicker, unmistakably, down to her lips, and she thinks, _Oh, hell._

Kira trails off. They both stand there for a long moment, stuck, and Tori isn't sure if she should move forward first or, maybe, she should move _backwards_ because this is a bad, terrible idea, but then, Kira reaches for her, one hand smoothly hooking a thumb through her belt loop, pulling her closer, and the other hand on the back of her neck, pulling her down.

Tori didn't think her first kiss with Kira would've been with her _not_ taking initiative -- or would've happened at all, really -- but she helps Kira close the distance between them by leaning down, her hands drifting down to Kira's waist as their lips meet.

She expects Kira to recoil at the taste of regret and guilt on her tongue, but instead, Kira just lightly grazes her teeth against Tori's lower lip before pulling back, leaving her with her heart pounding in her chest and a waterfall roaring in her ears.

Kira smirks and licks her lips. "How about holding that against you?" she asks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Begin Again - Taylor Swift
> 
> imagining tori as a bi mess is Hard but honestly? she's like 19/20 at this point so like.... heck yeah she would be... i have no excuse for why kira, who is 17/18 at this time, would be slightly more confident than tori is in the situation but like Circumstantial Behavior, i guess ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
